The present invention relates most generally to presentation and display boards. More particularly, the invention relates to a magnetic presentation and display board for securely, yet removably displaying at least one display article in a pre-determined display location upon a first display surface thereof. Most preferred embodiments support the displaying of a plurality of articles, while also providing for an inherent positional keying of at least a plurality of the articles being displayed.
The need to present and display items for sale is well appreciated by retailers, store owners, marketing entities, sales persons, etc. Indeed, it is well accepted, that the respective sales levels for an item or article may be significantly affected by the type of packaging, as well as the nature and structure of a sales display used to present the article for sale at commercial locations.
Certain articles can be more difficult to display than others, with smaller items being a particular challenge. When considering the displaying and presenting of items or articles that come in groups or sets, additional concerns and considerations come into play. For example, consider a need to display placements of flatware and or sets of knives. These items present particular challenges when attempting to provide a secure, yet removable displaying mechanism. In addition, unlike commonly used display arrangements, such as those employing hook and eye tape, or mechanical clips and retainers, it would be most desirable to provide a clean and neat display arrangement, which inherently causes displayed articles that are momentarily removed from a presentation board of the invention to be placed back in an original location.
When there is a need for a simple and plain background against which the items and articles are to be clearly displayed, including backgrounds not having cutouts, indentations, and outlines, the prior art has yet to provide a simple structure with high aesthetic properties. In addition, the prior art does not provide a configurable and fully functional magnetic presentation and display apparatus having the structure, features and characteristics provided by the present invention.
Therefore, skilled individuals will certainly appreciate a need for new and improved presentation and display structures employing suitable means for firmly, yet removably displaying one or more display articles upon a presentation board. Additionally, there is a need for a presentation and display arrangement wherein a plurality of display articles may be displayed, with each displayed article having an inherent positional keying establishing a unique display location. As such, if several displayed articles or items are removed from the presentation board of the invention, each will preferably have to be placed back in their original position in order to be properly fixed to the presentation board. A number of other characteristics, advantages, and or associated novel features of the present invention, will become clear from the description and figures provided herein. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. In particular, the embodiments included and described, have been chosen in order to best explain the principles, features, and characteristics of the invention, and its practical application, to thereby enable skilled persons to best utilize the invention and a wide variety of embodiments providable that are based on these principles, features, and characteristics. Accordingly, all variations possible are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
In accordance with the present invention, a magnetic presentation and display board is provided for securely, yet removably displaying at least one display article in a pre-determined or pre-selected display location upon a first surface of the board. Included is a presentation board preferably formed of non-ferromagnetic materials, including a first sheet material establishing a typically planar first surface, and a core to which the first sheet material is fixed. The core is structured with a plurality of magnet receptacles, which in their simplest embodiment are specifically sized through-holes.
The invention further calls for at least two magnet pairs to be included for the mounting or holding of each display article to be displayed upon the presentation board. Each magnet pair includes an article magnet and a board magnet. The article magnet is fixed for display purposes (subsequent to manufacture), to a rear facing surface of a respective display article at a determined or pre-selected location. The board magnet of each magnet pair is embedded within a magnet receptacle of the core of the presentation board, and preferably located substantially directly behind the first sheet material, or an equivalent structure, so as to be hidden from view. Importantly, each board magnet is located within a selected magnet receptacle such that the board magnet will align with (superpose) and be magnetically attracted to a respective article magnet of the magnet pair when the display article is substantially positioned in a pre-established display location. It may be noted, as indicated in the included figures and descriptions provided hereinafter, that a display location of a display article is established by suitably locating the board magnets, as required, so that the associated display article is positioned in a desired location upon the presentation board of the invention. Accordingly, a preselected position or location at which an article is to be displayed may be established or altered by simply moving each board magnet of the magnet pairs associated with the display article, while maintaining a relative spacing, as required by the spacing of the article magnets.
Accordingly, it should be understood that the displaying of each display article is effected by a plurality of paired magnets. As a result, each display article is securely, yet removably held and displayed upon a suitable presentation board, when the display article is in an intended display location. This secure, yet removable displaying of a display article upon the presentation board results from an article magnet and a board magnet (of each magnet pair) being substantially aligned and in a superposing arrangement. Therefore, for each magnet pair provided, an article magnet is closely spaced from a board magnet when the display article is in an intended display location. This closely spaced alignment of the magnets, which may actually vary with the size and type of magnets employed, causes a nearly maximum magnetic attraction to be exerted between the respective article and board magnets of each magnet pair.
Another feature of the present invention provides for embodiments wherein a plurality of display articles may be displayed. These embodiments of the magnetic presentation and display board may be structured and configured such that each display article is displayed with at least two magnet pairs, and the magnet pairs of each item displayed are arranged to have a different relative spacing. As such, these possibly most preferred embodiments of the magnetic presentation and display board are structured for displaying a plurality of the display articles in a unique position, with each desired display location established by uniquely spacing each of the plurality of magnet pairs used for displaying each respective display article. Accordingly, these latter embodiments inherently reduce or eliminate the possibility of placing one or more display articles in improper display location, due to a noticeable miss-aligning of the magnets of at least one magnet pair when a display article is placed in an incorrect display location.